Yoga caught in the 'wave'

Rolling through the pictures of the yoga day to complete the assignment given by her strict teacher who wanted nothing but an interesting original story, Prachi's  eyes glued to two pictures which pushed her into a deep pool of thoughts. The first picture was that of fat cops and bureaucrats performing yoga as a part of the record breaking event. For her, that picture was representing the fat obese Indian population which can do anything from pin making to rocket science except for adopting healthy practices. Every 'concerned' Indian always plans to follow a healthy diet and exercise  regularly. He even starts it but could not carry it for more than two days. Considering our unhealthy lifestyle, one gets amazed by such a show off. Lets not talk about the whole country for now. Will those 35000 people who helped our country to make a world record practice yoga all their life? Or even a year?Then what purpose has that day served?

The second picture was that of our honorable Prime Minister who looked extremely happy, satisfied and proud during the event. Prachi could easily make out what must be going in his mind. He must be wondering that today the whole world is watching India, the country which gave yoga to the world is so enthusiastically celebrating the first International yoga day which was the idea of its PM who is so considerate about the country's tradition. Such a large number of countrymen have gathered to take part in the event  which symbolizes India's rich cultural heritage. India has set an example for the world to follow which is our 'soft power'. Apart from what all is credited to India's profile, my profile is also incremented with this record. The world , all Indians and my lovely media will always remember me by this celebration. Its good that I used to practice yoga because of which I was able to perform today. Every single picture on the Internet, newspaper and other modes of communication will surpass through me. That's a real achievement and what I call Modi's magic. 

The two angles of the event are clearly visible. It is not something new or the first time that we are deceived. We have seen it so many times that doesn't bother us anymore . It will be humorous to reveal about how many people of those 35000 people went by their own will and not without any compulsion. Apart from capturing world's attention to India, what has our PM done to enforce yoga in our society or has he left it on us by just performing yoga for a day with thousands of people to motivate us. What will the newly appointed yoga minister and his ministry do? Do we need a separate ministry for yoga? What will be its power? When will these questions be answered? Or the event has got over now and yoga fever is out of our minds? There was a world yoga day already in place but on Modi's insistence now we have 'International Yoga Day'. God! What an idea. 

Today about two billion people of the world are doing some form of yoga, and it should grow more especially in India where lies its origin. But the sad part is that nothing can be done peacefully here. May be that is the charm of the Indian democracy but the problem is that the opposition is meant only to degrade the work conducted by the government. They fail to work for the countrymen which just happened in the case of yoga day also. They spoke against yoga in terms of Hinduism and Islam but did not counter argued for the need of compulsory yoga training to all people instead of such drama.

In the end, yoga day was another such publicity stunt which our PM has carried out since he came to power. But what is to be scrutinized is the public memory which will analyse these stunts in the next general elections.

Truck is not a synonym of accident

Photo credit: Getty images

If I were asked a day back what was the first thing that comes to my mind when someone said 'truck', I would have replied reckless driving, accidents and drug addicts. But now I have reached to a mature conclusion.

Typical life of a truck driver involves a minimum of two-day journey in which he has to drive for at least 18 hours a day that too all alone because MNREGA has taken away the conductor who used to assist him. It is so risky for him to travel alone with the items worth lakhs and crores on the highways which are susceptible to attack by mafias and robbers. In some cases, when he stops for food and rest at dhabas, he is robbed of diesel and even murdered for the items loaded in the truck. He therefore, cannot rest properly and sometimes while driving fall asleep leading to accidents which ends his own life.  Most of the drivers drive old models of truck which lacks hydraulic mechanism and requires extra effort. This makes him tired and leads to extensive body pain which makes it difficult for him to sleep so he takes alcohol to induce sleep. A truck at high speed cannot change direction or apply brakes suddenly which leads to accidents and the blame comes on the truck driver.

Truck transportation faces other challenges too. Dating back to history, transportation in India was mainly carried out through railways maintained by the Britishers. They never let road transportation to prosper fearing competition and made rigid laws which are still in effect. Constitutionally, transportation comes under state list which means each state has the authority to make rules governing transportation as per their wish. All states in India levy different amount of value added tax on petroleum products which increases transportation cost and creates uneven market which is bad for consumers. Highways provide easy access to liquor and drugs to the drivers which aggravates road safety issue. Supreme Court passed a rule that such shops should be kept away from highways but it is not yet enforced. Police deployed on the state borders illicitly demand money from drivers to pass through the border and operates a mafia involving even the top officials. Transportation sector is unorganised which enhances the problems for drivers. In cases of serious injuries, he cannot claim money from the owners. There is no limit on the duration of his work and the right to form association is also denied. 

Conditions of this sector are changing with better roads and  new modernised models of trucks. But a lot more needs to be done like electronic mechanism for toll tax, GPS facility for tracking trucks, national register for drivers and inclusion of petroleum in the GST.

Ending with a hope that this piece has made you realise the challenges before the truck drivers and brought about a change in your perception.

First Friend

While I was watching two siblings playing in my neighbourhood, I recalled my first friend and the journey of our friendship. It was not perfect but it refined and today it is a lovely reality. Yes, I am talking about my sibling- my elder brother. 

Like every other sibling, we both had a competition of being loved more by the family and for this we never used to miss any chance of complaining about one another and winning favours. Once  we both were going on a bicycle ride, my brother was riding it and I was sitting at the back. He was driving very recklessly as a result of which I fell on the road. My knees were bruised. He was terrified foreseeing scolding. I was adamant to get him good beating for this. He tried to bribe me saying that he will give me toffee if I didn't complain, I agreed. He took me to our terrace secretly and gave me first aid and toffee. I ate it and when we came down, I started crying and complained about him for the injury. He had a good scolding for it. Shrewd me, but till then our relationship was not so friendly.

Slowly and gradually, we started playing together. Though like every other brother, he forced me to play cricket and I was always given bowling or fielding which I used to hate. We both went to the same school. School was a place where I actually felt that he was my brother. Among the crowd of strangers, he was my family. I was always relieved while going to school because I knew he was there every time. Though, we fought in every game we used to play at home but outside whenever I used to get "out" in a game,  he would give excuses on my behalf saying that I am a "kachchi ghodhi". He also used to make me sit in his lap in the auto rickshaw while going to school every day.

One incident that I clearly remember and which changed my mindset completely was- I was given a home work to draw a diagram of food chain. It was too hard for me to draw those snake, frog and eagle so I asked my mother to do the same for me. She drew it but I didn't like her drawing and without thinking even once I erased it. I asked her to draw it again but she was too angry to do it again. I asked my father to intervene but it was of no use. I cried a lot and then slept. When I got up, I saw a beautiful food chain in my copy. I knew that she will make it but then my father told that my brother had drawn it in the night. I felt so thankful and decided never to fight with him. This was the  beginning of our strong bond.

Then we started a business. We had a lot of comics so we decided to rent them and earn money from it. We took a rickety table from the store, placed all our comics on it beautifully and made it our shop. My brother managed accounts and I showed comics to the customers. Surprisingly, we had customers. After its success, we decided to write our own comic. We named it " Amanisha ka raaz", actually amanisha is a waterspout near our house where we used to play. We made it a mysterious story and added amazing graphics to it. 

As we grew up together, our friendship blossomed. A sibling is our first friend, we discover every thing together. We know each other more than anybody else. This relationship is the most beautiful among all the relationships. 

Don't judge before knowing

In my life, I have come across two sets of people. The first set of people are the ones who uses parameters to classify an individual and the other set, quite obviously, who don't.

May be, I analyse people's behaviour more than anyone else does, but my habit has an incident behind.

When I was in class 5, I used to sit with a girl. We both used to enjoy each other's company. One day, she asked me whether I was middle class or upper class. I was completely blank on her question , possibly because it was the first time that I came across these words. Without me replying something, she elaborated that upper class people own a two storey house and a luxury car whereas middle class don't have these. I began thinking whether I satisfy the criteria. Our house was single storeyed but we had two rooms built on the terrace and a car was given to my father for official purpose which puzzled me. I don't remember what answer I gave to her but after some days she told I was middle-class and was not made a part of their "upper class group". It is not something I regret but as a result of it, I hate people who try to show off their money power in front of me. 

All this flash backed when I was talking to a little boy of class 3 who after a brief hello, jumped to a question on how many and which car do I have? After my reply, he began specifying his numerous luxurious cars proudly. I don't know whether I was shocked or annoyed but it made me sure about some people who are extremely proud of what they have. Their ideology is only based on being supreme and quashing sentiments of others. The intent of the little child cannot be questioned but the real worry is that the kid is being articulated the supremacy of having luxuries in life and such a perception will proliferate as he will grow up. 

But it is quite obvious that a person who has got everything he wants from birth cannot understand their importance. Had that child belonged to a family where he had to travel in local buses, he would have never asked such a question.

Talking about the second set of people, my favourite example is my friend's maternal aunt. One day while me and my friend were returning from college, my friend had to deliver her sister's wedding card to her aunt whose house was nearby our college. So I went with her. I was feeling a little uneasy but her aunt welcomed me so nicely that my uneasiness disappeared in one go. Apart from discussing about the wedding and their family issues, she asked about me, my family and our friendship. Then, her kids came who also spoke to me with a will to make friends with me. My heart was filled with delight upon knowing that some people exist who don't use parameters to judge you and remains willing to enjoy your company.

Pets are special

Right from my childhood, I have been introduced to animals as sweet creatures because my parents love animals and had pets in their childhood. I had a Pomeranian pet dog named Leo. Leo was brought after my several requests to my father for a pet. Father's point was that I will not be able to spare much time for pet's care because of my increasing burden of studies. But I managed to convince him. Leo was hardly two months old when he came into our lives. In the starting, my family was not ready to accept him but slowly and gradually Leo's cuteness and goodness made him the most lovely part of our family.

Leo was close to all of us but a little more to me because of the time we spent together. This was to such an extent that whenever I went out of the house without him, he used to get so angry that on my return, he would pull out the slippers from my leg and bite them hard enough to destroy them. It was my duty to feed Leo because of which he developed a habit of eating from my hands only. He wouldn't drink milk from his bowl if I was not sitting beside him. He became more of a son to me than a pet. He was sensitive enough to detect if somebody is not well in the family. My Grandpa used to take Leo out for the morning walk and if he got late by few minutes, he would start jumping. Once while Grandpa was not well and was resting on his bed, Leo came up on his bed (something he never does), sat near him calmly and started licking him. Leo was a darling for all. Once while some strangers came to our house, Leo started barking so loudly that it was nearly impossible to listen anything. My father scolded him very loudly for this and even showed him a stick. It made him very angry and he didn't come out of his place until my father went and dragged him out of his place with a sorry. We never felt that he couldn't understand emotions.

Leo's nobility became imminent when once my father brought a rabbit of his friend to our house as their family was going out of station for a marriage for two weeks. In the beginning, we were afraid of its safety and kept Leo away from it. But then, my father kept Leo in front of the rabbit so that both can smell each other with me holding Leo. After that, they both started playing together. The rabbit was a bit mischievous as he used to jump on Leo's back but our poor baby used to allow him happily.

On a very unfortunate day, Leo died prematurely after he was bitten by some street dogs. He may not be with us anymore but his memories are a reason for us to smile.

I have seen many parents not allowing their kids to keep pet animals. To them, I would say that having a pet makes your life happier. Animals have the power to absorb our stress. With them, you feel positive and relax. You can learn from them what goodness and real love is. It will make you and your kids a better human. Have a thought!

We are fortunate

It's really different how you think when you are a child than when you are an adult! When I was a kid,  I used to travel in public transport buses with my granny whenever we had to go out. I literally hated it because the bus used to be overfull with no space to breathe! So, while waiting for the bus at the bus-stop with my granny, I used to watch every passing vehicle thinking how cruel they were for not even noticing us, leave alone offering a lift to our destination! And now when I travel in a car, how many people have I ever given a lift to?

It was just one thought, and may be there are millions of them persisting in this world. A person who has not taken food for the whole day might be somewhere there, thinking about people like us who have enough food to waste, than to offer him a bite. A person who has run out of drinking water might be carving for a little help from the one who has bathed twice a day. A person who has lost everything in a natural calamity might wish if somebody could adopt him as a family member and make  him feel safe. An aged man in an overfull bus might wish if a young person could offer him his seat. These are just a hand full of thoughts, may be in reality there are thoughts which are even beyond our imagination. 

One incident that is very close to my heart- My father had gone to buy vegetables and I was waiting in the car. Meanwhile, I saw a man who was purchasing something from the diary and a street dog was following him with his tail wagging as if the dog wanted the man to feed him. I thought the man will throw a stone on the dog for disturbing him, as most others do in such a case. But something really opposite happened. The man fed the dog with milk in the vessel he had brought along. The dog relished the milk. I thought I loved dogs so much but never ever thought of feeding street dogs with milk. Sometimes mercy alone cannot do, we need to come out of the think zone to materialise our thoughts. 

We often spent all our lives in trying to make them more luxurious, more prosperous. We never give a little thought over life of others who might be awaiting our help. Helping is always confused with monetary help but it is not the case! A little food that we don't wish to eat can eliminate somebody's hunger. Our little saving of water can give somebody water to drink. It is not something we have never known, but we have never cared because we have just heard even if not seen. If ever once you will come across these people, you will understand how fortunate we are and being so, it is our duty to help them.

The Superheroes

If Superheroes ever existed in reality, then surely they would have been like the domestic helpers in our homes. Sounds a bit funny but it isn't!
 Have you ever counted the number of times a day you call out the name of your maid for petty things? And how they always accomplish each and every task you assign without any hesitation within a fraction of second with the same enthusiasm and energy. I always wonder how these people remain so energetic and that too all 365 days of the year!

I have an obsession for cleanliness, so I clean my home on my own at least once in a week targeting the areas where the maid possibly doesn't reach out. What happens after this hunt is that I come up with a hell lot of dust bunnies from the backside of the furniture. This angers me as to why she cannot take care of these accumulating dust bunnies?

Once, our maid took a little longer on holidays, a week. Unfortunately, it was my winter vacation and I had to take the responsibility of cleaning up the house. The first day, I very enthusiastically cleaned the house covering every corner and furniture. It took about two hours to complete the whole work and I was terribly tired. The next day, I decided not to take the corners and furniture and keep it simple because it gets very tiring and that day I had to wash the utensils also. While washing the utensils, I felt a bit uneasy. Uneasy because of the leftovers on the plates. I then realised how it feels to be a servant! What she might feel about her life that she had to do all this work for all her life without any scope of improvement in the living standard. 

It had happened so many times that whenever I fell sick, my parents ask me to take leave from the college and take rest. But when these domestic helpers fall sick, they still come to work because one day leave means no food for the day.The indispensable need  of money drives them to work. The irony of the life is that the one who does the maximum physical work gets the minimum of the money. Look at the labourers, domestic helpers, peons and many of such kind!

We cannot help out monetarily each and every such person but we can surely give them respect for the work they do for us which can make them feel proud. Proud of being a helper without whom we cannot live comfortably.

Decoding ISIS

US declares ISIS the most powerful terrorist organisation of the world. Why is this group so powerful? What is its origin? What is its mandate? And what are its implications on the rest of the world? These are some of the questions that I would like to answer.

ISIS, Islamic state of Iraq and Syria, as it is known to most, is a Sunni terrorist group aimed to overthrow the rule of the President of Syria (Bashar-al-asad) who is a Shia. In Syria, Sunnis are in majority (70%-72%) and Shias are  in minority but the ruler belong to the Shia group. He has implemented policies in favour of Shias, brutally hampering Sunni's interest. Why Shias and Sunnis have stark differences is based on their notion of selection of the leader (Caliph). Shias believe that the leader should be the one among the family members of the Prophet Muhammad while Sunnis believe that the leader has nothing to do with the heredity and it depends on the capabilities of a person. ISIS want to restore a single Caliphate for the Islamic states.

This group was joined by Iraq who is always against western interference in their territory and Islamic culture, particularly because of Iraq invasion by US-UK based coalition aimed at toppling the Saddam Hussein's regime which they thought was getting powerful as it wanted to take hold of oil fields of Kuwait. Also, US believed that Iraq was responsible for attack on the world trade centre. So US pictured it as - Saddam has Weapons of mass destruction and that it requires UN permission to invade Iraq. The invasion ruined Iraq and no such weapons were found. Saddam Hussein was a Sunni ruler who are in minority in Iraq.

ISIS is expanding exponentially in terms of weaponry, territory and brutality. It aims to take over all the Islamic states.
Talking about the allegation that ISIS might be a tool for US to divide and conquer Middle East , there is no clear evidence to prove this but the manner in which US is handling the ISIS affair is surely doubtful. The aerial bombing by US has no strategy behind. But it seems like it will create more unrest which will make this organisation more powerful and organised as other groups like Alqaeda will come together . US has not completely seized finances into these groups as ISIS has taken over major oilfields and sells oil to various countries, thereby financing themselves for weaponry. Instead of sharing of governance among the different ethnic groups, US is aimed at eradicating ISIS which is a distant possibility.

Each country of the World would be affected by this turmoil directly or indirectly as everyone is dependent on Middle East for oil imports. 

From the pages of partition

Following is an excerpt from "Themes in Indian History". 

This is a real life experience of a Muslim person during the partition narrated by a Hindu.

During my visits to the History Department Library of Punjab University, Lahore, the librarian, Abdul Latif, a pious middle- aged man, would help me a lot. He would go out of his way to do my work. I found his attitude to my work so extraordinary that one day I could not help asking him, "Latif  Sahib, why do you get out of your way to help me so much?"

Latif answered " I...I mean, my father belonged to a small village in Jammu. This was a Hindu-dominated village and Hindu ruffians of the area massacred the hamlet's Muslim population in August 1947. One late afternoon, when the Hindu mob had been at its furious worst, my father discovered he was perhaps the only Muslim youth of the village left alive. He had already lost his entire family in the butchery and was looking for ways of escaping. Remembering a kind, elderly Hindu lady, a neighbour, he implored her to save him by offering him shelter at her place. The lady agreed to help my father but said, ' Son, if you hide here, they will get both of us. This is of no use. You follow me to the spot where they have piled up the dead. You lie down there as if dead and I will dump a few dead- bodies on you. Lie there among the dead through the night and run for your life towards Sailkot at the break of dawn tomorrow.'

My father agreed to the proposal. Off they went to that spot, father lay on the ground and the old lady dumped a number of bodies on him. An hour or so later a group of armed Hindu hoodlums appeared. One of them yelled, 'Any life left in anybody?' and the others started, with their crude staffs and guns, to feel any trace of life in that heap. Somebody shouted, " There is a wrist watch on that body!" and hit my father's finger with the butt of his rifle. Father used to tell how difficult it was for him to keep his outstretched palm, beneath the watch he was wearing, so utterly still. Somehow he succeded for a few seconds until one of them said ' Oh, it's only a watch. Come let us leave, it is getting dark.' Fortunately, for Abbaji, they left and my father lay there in the wretchedness the whole night, literally running for his life at the first hint of light. He did not stop until he reached Sailkot."

" I help you because that Hindu mai helped my father. I am simply returning my father's karz, his debt". 

Partition was a painful experience for all. I fail to understand how those who had lived more or less harmoniously for generations inflicted so much violence on each other. 

67/70

67/70, I think it is the best way to put it and easiest way for anyone to guess it! Yes, I am talking about AAP's landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly polls. This verdict came as a surprize to all:

 To BJP, the most, who were conferred  the highest share in the exit polls. So, this low(3seats) was more a shock rather than a surprize.

To Congress, atleast they would not have expected a Zero.

To AAP, they would not have imagined above fifty. 

To Indians from other states, who were carried away by the Modi wave.

To Delhiites, that they all thought the same.

Well, why I call this as a surprise is, because of the persistent Modi wave across the country, it was quite obvious to see the same result in Delhi as well. Here we need to understand what changed the Delhi's political dynamics.

First and foremost, the deliberate delay in conducting Delhi polls even after continuous reminders from the SC proved a strategic mistake of BJP. This delay which was supposed to enrich the BJP hegemony over Delhi actually gave immense time to AAP to reestablish itself. 

Second, BJP's campaigning was centered around giving ratings to Kejriwal's act of resigning ("bhagoda") rather than on the local issues. AAP tactfully took advantage of it and began its campaigning with an apology for the resignation and concentrated on the local issues.

Third, when the 49 days of AAP were compared with the performance of BJP so far, people found that BJP can only make noise with no effective measures for implementation and AAP , on the other hand, atleast had brought down their electricity bills in 49 days. This thought got a boost when AAP presented the white paper along with its manifesto.

Indeed, AAP's landslide victory has demarcated a new turn in Indian politics, submerging the national parties. It has changed the perception of politics among the youth. It is seen as a great inspiration for the regional parties. It has also initiated a new way of campaigning like human banners, auto rickshaw posters and Flash mob which are cost effective and innovative. 

Although, great challenges lie in front of AAP, significantly, support from the centre in accomplishing their target.

Good luck to AAP!

Indo-Pak Cricket War

"Indo-Pak", a word that creates a lot of buzz among masses whenever associated with cricket.

With the announcement of an India vs Pakistan match, the sense of enthusiasm that instills among the Indians and Pakistanis is undoubtedly different and stronger than even a world cup final match between India and some other country. On the day of the match, from a teenager to a senior citizen, every eye is glued to the TV set. This is the charm of the Indo-Pak match!

But have you ever pondered as to why do we get so much involved in this match? What do we achieve from this?

What I mean to say is that it is so logical that even if we lose, nobody from Pakistan is going to come and humiliate us nor do we remain in touch with them that such that it will affect our life in anyway.

I know if our country wins, it would be a matter of pride but why do we associate it with an anti-Pakistan feeling and where does this feeling go when India plays against some other country say, England, who ruled us for 200 years?

Why is it that Pakistan is so obsessed with Kashmir (which was never its territory) and not with Bangladesh (which was erstwhile "East Pakistan")? I think the Kashmir-dispute is more of an ego conflict rather than a land conflict.

I know Kashmir is still a reason of rift between the two countries but it is meant to be dealt on the border, not on the cricket ground.

Sometimes this patriotism can lead to some violent consequences because this has a slippery slope, people have no control over their feelings of Indo-Pak turning into a Hindu-Muslim rage.

Imagine a locality where Hindus and Muslims coexist. After Pakistan wins the match, there is some discussion in the locality and two persons from these ethnic groups slip into a verbal argument over the performance of the Indian team and the Muslim person takes the side of the winning team i.e. Pakistan. Now, this has the potential of erupting riots in that area.

I'm not asking you to shed your enthusiasm for the match but just want you to focus it on winning and not on defeating Pakistan on the grounds of humiliation. We should move ahead of this cheap patriotism and make our coming generations free from these prejudices.

A Ramp to death

Out of the total number of people who die unnaturally, a major proportion comes from road accidents.
I am sure this logistic is not something that you might have come across for the first time but the irony is that we have never taken it seriously. But why?
What bothers me is that people don't want their own safety, something absolutely absurd!
Most of the accidents I inspected, had the following causes-
First, "NEGLIGENCE"- either of the two involved in the accident. Now the question is why people are negligent? Because they are never asked to be alert. Tell me how many of us, when started to learn to drive, were introduced to roads as a serious element? Apart from explaining the traffic rules, it is never inculcated in us to follow them in every circumstance. And just stating it as an instruction does not serve the purpose.The backdrop against the instruction also needs to be explained, like if you drive at the wrong side, how difficult it will be for the person coming at a high speed to balance a sudden encounter.

Second, the teenagers think of roads as a "RAMP" to showcase their automobiles, flaunting their speed and beautiful faces, impressing the crowd who would not even notice the person who is driving. Why do they risk their life for such an immaterial and illogical happiness? I know peer-pressure is profound but not unavoidable if the person is smart enough to distinguish between what is right and what is not.

I blame it on the upbringing. If they were made aware of the consequences of even one wrong move on the road, they would have been more alert while driving.